Lost in the Crowd

Have you ever lost your child?  Not known where to find them?  Maybe they ran away from you at a store, or wandered in to a different area at a park.  I can't imagine a feeling much worse than being unable to find your child who was just in your line of sight.  This happened to me with Reid at Calvary's festival on Sunday night. 

Imagine being up on a hill and looking down to masses of people, adults and children alike.  There's a stage and a concert going on.  It's a grassy field, a grassy hill, and there's a lake on either side.  There's yellow tape surrounding the lake, letting you know there's danger on the other side.  But then what does yellow tape mean to a 3 year old?  How are they to know that means "caution"?

Now imagine you running down after said 3 year old, who is playing tag with some boys, but has ended up on the other side of that tape.  You tell him to stop running, to come back across the barricade, to run to your arms.  He thinks it's a joke, and while you're trying to stay calm, your heart is beating just a little bit faster until he's safe in your arms on the "right" side of the tape.  You caution him strongly, tell him the dangers that are on the other side, then bring him up to your spot safe atop the hill.

Ten minutes later Reid finds himself back at the bottom of the hill.  I watched him walk there, keenly aware of the ever-growing crowd, willing my self to not take my eyes off Reid.  Don't let him out of your sight, I kept thinking over and over.  And then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Gemma topple over in a chair, and I run to help her out.  I bring her back to my blanket, set her down, and stand back up to find Reid, but he's no where to be found.  He's not where I last saw him.  Not worried yet, my eyes start furiously scanning the hundreds of people at the concert.  Where is Reid?  How easy is it to spot a tiny little 3 year old amongst adults and children?  It's starting to get darker and my eyes are not finding my son.  After about 5 minutes of scanning hard, I turn to Christian and let him know I can't find Reid.  He starts looking with me, and after not finding him quickly, runs down the hill to start searching at closer proximity.  I stay high, thinking I might be able to find him easier, and as my heart starts beating out of my chest I decide to go down and search the side Christian is not on.  It also happens to be the lake side that I, not 20 minutes earlier, had grabbed Reid from the wrong side of the tape.  Where was Reid?  Why couldn't I find him???  I begin pacing but cannot bring myself to leave the lake.  My heart was racing, my mind was running wild, and I truly believed I had lost Reid.  I had this sinking feeling that he had fallen in to the lake, no one had noticed, and he was gone.  I run back up to my friends and ask if he'd been found and how deep the lake was.  Was Reid there?  Had he drowned? 

Writing it now gives me chills all over again.  I've never experienced this feeling before and pray with all my might, I never have to experience it again.  I ran back down to the lake, my mind continuing to race, scanning the lake with everything I had, all the while looking around me and wondering where could he have gone??  About 20 minutes had passed - longest 20 minutes of my life - when I saw my friend Carrington running over to me.  "He's been found, Kelly.  He's safe.  He's in the first aid tent."  Oh. My. Goodness.  My body collapsed, my shoulders started shaking and I started sobbing.  While Carrington held me, assuring me Reid had been found, I just cried and thanked her.  After a couple of minutes I pull it together and head up to find my Reid.  Sure enough, there he is in the first aid tent, with a piece of chocolate for me as a peace offering.  I start scolding him while crying with Reid saying "but I couldn't find you..."  Oh my heart.  Praise Jesus, he's safe.  Apparently a lady had found him wandering amongst the crowd of people and asked him where his mommy or daddy was.  When Reid couldn't point us out, she figured the best place to take him was essentially "child lost and found". 

The rest of the night was basically uneventful, thank the Lord, and we ended up enjoying a concert and fireworks.  Though my guard was never let down, and heightened even more as the night got dark and my eyes were glued to my 3 year old with everything I had. Tucking Reid in to bed after we got home, I hugged him a little bit tighter and gave him a little bit more intense kiss.  We thanked Jesus, again, for keeping Reid safe and reuniting us a a family.  And we talked about the importance of listening and obeying and staying with Mommy or Daddy.  Never a dull moment when you're parenting little ones!